


Do You Have To Go?

by abiotic_butterfly



Category: Stranger Things (2016)
Genre: Emotions, F/M, Fluff, Heart Break, Kissing, M/M, Moving, Sadness, Season 3, Sexuality, Shopping, Summer Camp
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-26
Updated: 2020-03-16
Packaged: 2020-07-20 01:18:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 4,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19983670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abiotic_butterfly/pseuds/abiotic_butterfly
Summary: Joyce decided that after a year that the kids deserved to see their friends again. So she talks to the parents of all of them and they all set up going to a camp for the summer.Along the road to this it’ll deal with heartbreak, rejection, sexuality, and growing up.





	1. The Beginning Of Summer Joy

It was dark outside, the house completely quiet, yet El couldn’t sleep. She had been having trouble sleeping ever since Hopper had died, and she really wished that they would stop.

Her days were haunted with her missing father and friends, having to live with the Byers wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. But she missed Mike, and Max and Dustin and all their friends. It was strange to be without them and she hated the feeling of being alone.

Joyce had tried everything she could to help El adjust to being in their family, but she still didn’t feel right being there. 

Jonathan, she rarely hung out with him considering the age gap and he mainly was in his room or trying to call Nancy. The phone was always something the three kids would fight over, each wanting to call someone back in Hawkins and talk to them.

Will would try to talk to her, but their conversations fell flat often. El usually didn’t know what to talk about with him, he was a geek who liked D and D and liked to dress as a wizard. And she found that her favorite activities involved shopping with Max and being with Mike which were two things she couldn’t do with Will.

They were all sitting at the dining room table, each quiet and respective in their own way. Almost like breaking the silence would cause them all to burst into a fit of tears.

Joyce cleared her throat and put her fork gently down on her plate, looking over to address Will and El who were sitting next to one another across the table. 

“We all needed a break from Hawkins, some more than others. But I have decided that since it’s been a year, you two can go to camp with you friends. I- I called their parents to ask, and we all thought it would be good for you kids to see each other this summer.”

El’s face lit up and she gave Joyce one of her biggest smiles, her body practically vibrating with excitement at the upcoming events. 

“I get to see Mike?” She eagerly asked.

Joyce nodded, the glimmer of a soft smile on her face. “Yes, you’ll get to see all your friends. Even Max, it was hard to convince her parents though…” her turned down expression changed again to a relaxed one. “But they’ll all be there.”

Will gave a small smile and nodded, his face turning to look at El’s, his excitement no where near what hers was. 

“I’ll get to see everyone, it’ll be fun.” He commented, but he didn’t look like he meant it. 

Joyce smiled and tapped the table, “knew you two would be thrilled. Now, something you two have to do is go summer shopping. New bathing suits, shorts, tops, the works. Have fun!” She gave them a bright smile, but that was nothing compared to El’s which went from ear to ear.


	2. It’s Not Starcourt

The local mall was off to El, maybe it was because she had just grown used to the Hawkins one and it was weird to see no Scoops Ahoy there. 

But she had found one of the old outfits she had bought with Max, the old memories hit her and she hated it. Thoughts of Billy dying at the mall, Max crying and herself bawling while his memories flashed through her. 

And when she thought about it maybe it really was a good change, not having to go back to that mall wasn’t the worst thing that could happen. 

Will had originally suggested that just him and El go to the mall, but Joyce had been firm with saying she would go with them.

El couldn’t blame her, the woman was just scared that something would happen to them. And knowing them something very well could end up happening to them so it was best she tagged along. 

Besides, what really were they going to do that Joyce couldn’t be there to see? It’s not like either of the teens had people they would be kissing, or making inappropriate jokes with. El learned that both of those things were common occurrences for teenagers and that they didn’t like adults to see them do those things.

But none of those things were going to be done because there was no one there to do them with. 

El had a strange thought though, one that made her frown. She had been selecting a pair of bright blue shorts when it hit her.

Will never had anyone to do those things with.

She hadn’t thought about it, thinking of Will kissing another girl or holding hands with a girl was an awkward thought. Something that just like this new town seems unnatural. 

It wasn’t meant to be a rude thought, but she couldn’t help but think about Will with some girl walking around the mall and chatting about D and D and geeking out together. 

The thought made her absolutely joyful, El had noticed that the boy hadn’t had any relationships and had overall been pretty sad every time she saw him. And while she couldn’t blame him, she wasn’t the happiest lately either. She did want to help him out. 

Maybe at camp, her and Max could make it a mission to help Will with girls. After all, Max was a girl, and so was El. So it would be perfect, they could help him out with their species and Will wouldn’t look so lonesome all the time. 

She coughed and waited for Will to notice her, which he did, though he looked a bit confused. 

“You need help with somethin?”

She shook her head, “no, but I do have a question for you.”

He nodded and nervously looked back to the rack of brightly colored shirts he was staring at. Joyce had redirected him over to the summer section earlier when he headed to the flannel and fall wear. 

“What do you like in a girl?”

He flushed and stuttered, looking utterly perplexed. He fiddled with one of the t-shirts and made an “uhhh” sound that droned on for a minute. 

El was afraid she had asked the wrong thing. 

“I don’t really know…someone who’s nice, uh, attractive? Like, average? I- I ugh, not really sure. Never really liked a girl before.” He confessed, his cheeks bright red and his eyes downcast almost as if in shame.

But El just gave him a reassuring smile and patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry, Will. I am going to help you.”


	3. Everything Is Blurry

The clothing shopping went great and El was left with many different multicolored outfits to choose from when she and Will went to camp. 

And she was determined to pack almost all the clothes she could into her bag, she wanted to show Mike all her new things. And Max! She wanted to show her all the new shopping skills she had learned from her. 

The weekend went by fast for El, everything was a blur as she packed, worried over her new look and how Mike would react. 

She spent a lot of her time talking to Joyce about what the camp would be like considering she had never really gotten to go to an office summer camp before. And from everything she’s heard it’s supposed to be a fun thing, so she couldn’t wait to go.

Joyce had explained that all the girls and boys would be split up into different age groups and then you’d get to do activities with everyone in those said groups. But they would be separated at the end of the day and you would have to go to different cabins to sleep.

El knew about how boys and girls couldn’t sleep together so this made sense. She was just happy that her and Max would still be together. 

A few hours after Joyce had given El the run down on how camp worked the phone rang and the young girl was delighted to hear Joyce call her name through the house.

“El! Mike’s on the phone!”

She pranced out of her room, missing how Will looked up from his TV show in the living room to watch as Eleven happily ran to the phone. 

The teen grabbed the phone and smiled as she heard her boyfriend’s voice call the other end of the phone. “El!”

“Mike! I haven’t heard from you in forever. I missed you.”

The boy sighed and his voice scratched through the connection, “I missed you too. But I’ll see you real soon, camp remember, we’ll be in the same group and we can hang out everyday like we used to.” 

“Yeah, we will. I am excited. This is going to be fun. And we will see each other all the time. I miss all you guys.” She twirled the phone cord and let her feet twist in the carpet. 

“Okay, well I gotta go. But I’ll talk to you tomorrow, in real life…bye El…I love you…” he whispered, almost as if someone else could hear what he was saying only to El.

She held back a chuckle and nodded even if he couldn’t see the movement. “Yeah, I’ll talk to you tomorrow…I love you too.”


	4. Driving, Driving and Driving

Once the car was all packed, El and Will hopped into the backseat. She was utterly filled with joy at the fact that they were finally leaving for camp. 

Now she was even closer to seeing her boyfriend, who she wanted to hug and kiss and hold hands with and holy shit did she miss him when she thought about it.

Something she had been doing was just avoiding it, it was a hard thing to do when all she wanted to do was be with him. But it was a given that she couldn’t think about him everyday, she’d drive herself insane.

They would be fifteen when they met again, and El couldn’t believe it was a year since she last hugged him. Well maybe not a full year, but it was basically a year to her and no doubt Will.

The drive was a long one, filled with bumpy roads, terrible music, and a few complaints from Will who seemed to be a little annoyed at the whole car ride.

The other teen didn’t mind one bit though, she smiled through the terrible music, learning to sing a lot as time went by. 

And the pot holes were just apart of the experience as far as El was concerned so she paid them mind. 

While Will kept to himself by looking out the window the whole time El jammed to the 80s music and tried to get Will to sing along. 

He gave her a smile and sung a little to please her, giving up at a lot of the high parts of the song so his voice wouldn’t crack. 

Joyce reached out and turned down the radio, looking into the rear view mirror to address Will and El. 

“Hey, we’re almost to camp, you two have your sunscreen on right?” At the two nods she contained on, “alright, so I’m going to sign you guys in, and then I’ll be gone.” The two nodded and stayed silent as Joyce turned off the main road and onto a side road that lead up a dirt road. 

This road was especially bumpy, little rocks hitting the side of the car as they drove.

The closer they got the more kids El could see, most throwing around different objects while they played in the woods. 

The car slowly stopped and El could barely contain herself as she looked around at everyone screaming and running around outside. 

She looked over to see Will intently looking out the window, and she smiled, maybe Will could actually have fun at camp.


	5. We’ve Reached Our Destination

When the car came to a full stop El hopped out of the car and closed the door behind her, looking around to see if any of her friends were around. 

And that’s when she spotted a dark skinned boy walking out of a cabin with a popsicle in his hand. He was laughing and talking to someone inside the cabin. 

“Lucas!” El shouted, abandoning the car in favor of running over to her friend. 

The boy in mention turned her way and a bright smile lit across his face. “El! Haven’t seen you in so long, guess what! I got taller.” He smiled and nodded, pointing to himself with his free hand. 

He looked around the same as he did a year ago, the same haircut, same clothing choice and same attitude. 

“Hi Lucas!” She gave him a quick hug, surprised at how she had missed Lucas too. And she didn’t seem to notice until she had given the boy a hug. 

He laughed and nodded, “yeah, uh, go on, he’s in there.” Lucas pointed behind him and El gave him a kind smile before making her way past Lucas and into the cabin. 

She looked around, tons of other kids were crowded around a cooler with popsicle sticks inside. A camp counselor handing each of them one of the multicolored popsicle. 

That’s when she spotted him, he looked taller, and his hair was cut a little shorter, but when he turned and spotted her, the love in his eyes that he had last year was the same.

His face broke out into the biggest smile she’d seen in awhile and he pushed everyone out of the way so he could pull El into his arms and hug her. 

She wrapped her arms around him and burrowed her face into his neck, trying to hold onto him as hard as she could. Making it so that no one could pry her from him. 

He slowly let go, his arms still around her as they just took in each other’s faces. 

El smiled and blushed, the light tears in her eyes shining up at him. And she was proud she managed not to cry when she saw him. 

“I can’t believe you’re right here.” She whispered, like someone was going to overhear them and keep them apart. 

“Yeah, it feels like forever.” He whispered back. His voice was somehow both deeper and more cracky. But she loved it anyway. 

She chuckled and wiped her eyes as she looked around the cabin. “Show me around?” 

Mike nodded quickly and smiled, trying not to cry himself. “Yeah, I’ll show you around.”


	6. The Hair Is Here

When Mike and El excited the cabin she could see Joyce standing next to a table with two women talking to her as she signed a piece of paper. 

The two walked over and the older woman smiled as she looked over at them. “Oh my, Mike, you’ve grown so much!” She gave him a sweet smile, one Mike nervously tried to give back. He always was awkward when adults would compliment him. 

She put down the pen and gave her full attention to the two teens. “Now, El, Miss. Robin is going to help you find your cabin.” 

El’s eyes widened and she looked over to see a familiar redhead teen. She looked different without her Scoops Ahoy outfit but just as ridiculous in her camp outfit. It was beige and she had an awkward looking bandana wrapped around her neck that looked like it was scratchy and choking her. 

She gave El a smiled and motioned her over, “hey, so yeah, bet you didn’t know I was gonna be here.”

Ele shook her head but she had a smile on her face, “I had no idea, but I’m not disappointed.”

Robin nodded, “yeah, the mall hasn’t been the same since…and I didn’t want to hang out by myself this summer. And when I found out that Steve was counseling here I wanted to join in.” 

“Wait! Steve’s here?” El raised eye eyebrow and quirked her lip. “Really?!” 

Robin smirked and nodded, “yep, you’ll see him around. He’s the boys cabin leader. They let us go wherever we wanted. Laid back camp.” 

Robin sighed and twisted to crack her back, “it’s quite tiring having to run around after kids. Now if you’ll follow me I can bring you to our cabin.” 

El nodded, “I’ll go get my bag!” She ran back to the car, Mike following after her and helping her with her bag like the good boyfriend he is. 

She gave him a thank you, and closed the car door. On her way back to Robin she made her to give Joyce a nice “Bye Ms. Byers” before she was skipping after the older girl.


	7. Assignments Have Been Arranged

The walk up the hill was slow and boring but eventually they were let to another section of the camp that was filled with different cabins. 

She stopped and pointed down another pathway, “the boys cabins are over there. And our cabins are right here.” 

She walked into the circle of cabins and pointed to each of them. “These are for first / third-“ she pointed to the first cabin, one that was filled with little girls running around and walking in and out of the cabin. 

“This one is for fourth / sixth-“ she pointed to the one next to it, a couple of girls were climbing around the polls and having the counselors yell at them. 

“Seventh / ninth- which is where you will be.” She pointed to the middle cabin that had a few girls hanging around outside, lounging around, reading books or talking. 

“And there is the cabin for us counselors. If you ever need me, I’ll be in there, you should be able to find me I’m pretty sure I’m the only redhead.” She joked. 

El gave her a sweet smile and walked over to her assigned cabin. The inside was spacious, a small area to sit on a loveseat, and the rest was filled with tons of bunk beds. 

“Take any bed you want, but just letting you know that Max’s bed is the one on the far right. Bottom bunk.” And Robin gave El a wink that clearly wasn’t a secret one.

The young girl smiled and raced over to the bed in the corner, throwing her stuff on the bottom bunk. 

“Now I’m ready to explore! And find Max, can you help me find Max?” She looked to Robin who huffed and crossed her arms. “Course I can find her. But we do have to stick to the schedule. And the schedule says that we need to head to arts and crafts next.”

El nodded and looked over to Mike before they automatically held hands with each other. 

“Are we going to be in the same group?” El asked, blinking her eyes up hopefully at Robin.

“Well…” she smirked at their sad expressions before smiling. “You’ll be together. Quaint camp, and that means even with all the grades smashed together there’s no too many kids. So I’m pretty sure boys and girls team up.”

Mike and El gave each other matching smiles.


	8. Girl’s Chat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I haven’t updated it awhile :( I’m back!

El was sat on the swing on the porch, going back and forth as she sighed and relaxed. Mike had to go back to his cabin for count and she was utterly bored. 

“El!” 

Her head shot up at the familiar voice, her eyes scanning the area. 

“Max!” She yelled back, her eyes catching sight of the red headed girl who was running towards her at full speed. 

El quickly stood up and opened her arms for the other girl in a bear hug, squeezing her as hard as she could in a death grip. 

Max was laughing and smiling, twirling around like she was hugging the love of her life that she hadn’t seen in ten years. And El was on the end of the hug and that meant she could barely breathe. 

“Max- Max- I can’t- breathe!” She pushed the other girl away and laughed when Max gave her a worried expression. 

“Sorry, I just missed you.” She smiled and let the other girl have a breather. 

“You look, the same?” She laughed when El burst out laughing. 

“You do too, longer hair though.” She reached out and twirled a strand of Max’s hair in her hand. 

Max blushed and smirked, “so much has happened while you left! Okay so Lucas and I have been on and off you know…” she smiled at El. 

“Yeah, you’ve told me how many times you’ve broken up.” She chuckled and pulled Max over to the swing and the two sat down and let it rock back and forth. 

Max gasped, “I’ve gotta tell you everything! Right now Lucas and I are on pause, so that means I’m a free woman. Therefore we gotta find me a new man until Lucas comes to his senses and apologizes properly.” 

El nodded along, “yes! We shall help you find a man!” 

Max contained on, “so far Dustin is completely entranced with Suzie so that means that we aren’t going to be setting him up with anyone. Mike’s got you. And-“

“Will!” El interrupted.

“I was getting to him!” She gave El a fake offended noise and lightly slapped her arm. 

“He needs a girl, someone to be happy with. He looked sad on the drive up.” El confessed. 

Max nodded, “agreed. This summer we will find Will a girlfriend. You and me.” She fist bummed El, something that she informed the girl was a fun thing to do.


	9. Grub Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back with another update! 
> 
> Make sure to leave kudos and comments, it’s always nice to get them!

The two lounged around, complaining and talking about what the two did while they were separated. It seemed to go by so fast to the point that the sky had darkened and Robin was guiding a whole bunch of girls onto the porch.

“Okay, turns out today we weren’t going to do anything and it was just the day to get everyone settled. Whoopie no messes to clean up. Now, all of you are accounted for and I expect you to be responsible enough to walk down to the dinner hall by yourselves. Janice, know you’ve been here before, you told me around 20 times so you can lead everyone down.” 

“What about you Robin?” El questioned. 

“I’m hanging back with the counselors, we’ll eat there. Don’t worry about it.” Her eyes had looked over at a pretty brunette girl who was talking to a male counselor.

“I gotcha.” Max smirked and nodded, giving Robin a cheeky look.

“Alright everyone, let’s go!” Janice yelled, waving for them to follow her down the hill. 

Max or course rolled her eyes and scoffed, “she thinks she’s better than us.” 

El shook her head and gave Max a small smile that showed she agreed.

The group headed down the mountain of a hill and then Janice rounded them up to point down a side trail. “This is to the dinner hall, don’t wander off now.” 

Max mockingly talked when the other girl did, moving her hand as if it was a face, making El snort and chuckle lightly. 

Their group continued to walk, making their way to the hall. Max took in a deep breath and smiled, “smells good. Now’s time to ditch and find the guys.”

El nodded and followed the redhead, grabbing onto her hand in case she would get lost. Or at least that’s what El told herself it was for when she grabbed her hand. 

“Max! El!” 

The two looked over to see the boys sat on a picnic bench in the corner. The two girls ran over and found their respective places. 

Max sitting on the end with El in between her and Mike, and then Will on the other end next to Mike. Dustin and Lucas were sitting on the other side looking somewhat offended. 

“Hey, even it out guys. Feeling rather lonely over here.” Dustin commented, looking at Will. 

Everyone gradually looked at Will, unspokenly telling him to move over to their side. So he slid out of his seat and sat next to Dustin on the other side.

“When do we get to eat? I’m starving!” Max complained, glaring at no one in particular. 

“I think they call up ear table separately.” Lucas answered, making Max groaned and pound her wrist against the wood table.

“Our tables all the way in the corner, how the hell are they going to see us! They aren’t! We’ll be called last!” She cried. 

Mike groaned and nonchalantly wrapped his arm around El’s side and pulled her over to lean against his shoulder. 

El smiled and nuzzled into his neck, her left arm resting on his leg while her right reached under the table to grab Max’s hand. 

The redhead looked over at her before letting El take her hand. She seemed a little unsure at what El was doing but definitely not opposed. 

“Well, now that the Party’s back together we need to make as many memories as possible before El and Will have to leave.” Lucas decided, looking at everyone directly in the eye to get his point across. 

Dustin nodded, “course we do.”

“In the meantime we gotta get food….” Mike though out loud. Looking around before his eyes widened and he called out. “Hey-! Steve!”


	10. Girlfriend, Girlfriend, Girlfriend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> El and Max are wondering if Will’s going to get a girlfriend this summer. He’s not too sure about it...

The said new founded counselor sighed, the fake kind that is done when a friend annoys you. He crossed his arms and walked over to their group, leaning down, his elbows resting on the table.

“What do you need now, Wheeler? You’ve been bothering me all day. You you two act innocent either.” He sent his glare to Lucas and Dustin who held their hands up in an act of peace.

“When are we getting our food?” Mike interrupted. 

“You’ll get your food when you’re called.” Steve answered.

“How long is that?” Max whined.

“We they call you-!”

“We know that, but how long?” Dustin asked.

“Are you-!”

“Table 20, go and get your lunch.” One of the head leaders tapped the teens table and pointed over to the lunch line up. 

The teens diapered and Steve raised his hands angrily and shook his head. 

The teens raced to the line, pushing each other out of the way to get in front like they were little kids. They were laughing and tripping over each other. 

They were overly excited to eat the perfectly normal mac n cheese but to them it was like a gourmet meal. 

They all sat around, filling themselves of the cheesy goodness. Occasionally throwing a piece pasta at another member at the table.

They finished quickly and drank the water they were given, all a little sad that they weren’t serving pop. 

“So…Dustin, are you planning on finding a new woman?” Lucas asked, which in return caused Dustin to turn up his chin. 

“I am still with Suzie, and you will have to respect that. I don’t care if I haven’t seen her in a year. We are together. You don’t see me asking you if you’re gonna get a new girlfriend.” 

Lucas sent Dustin a glare but didn’t say anything. 

“So, Will, you interested in finding a girlfriend?” Max pried, looking at the silent boy. 

“Yeah, uh, not really sure. I don’t know.” He shrugged and turned back to his foot, uninterested. 

Max looked back to El and shrugged a little, quirking her lip and giving the other girl her confused face. 

El responded back with her own shrug.


End file.
